


Home Work

by ncruuk



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 17:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17513000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncruuk/pseuds/ncruuk
Summary: Even Greyhounds have to work from home sometimes....





	Home Work

**Author's Note:**

> Life has rather gotten in the way of writing for most of 2018...so I'm trying a little bit of a gentle warm up to hopefully help 2019 be a little more productive.

"Osgood?"

 

"Wmpfhp..."  Realising Max Stewart didn't speak 'scientist with mouthful', McGillop settled for a mute wave while he finished chewing and swallowing the mouthful of his unexpected mid-morning doughnut.  "...sorry, she's working from home."

 

"Oh."  Max tried not to frown and look surprised by the news, although Osgood's unofficial lab partner was too familiar with the absent Osgood's working habits to not anticipate the surprise.

 

"Last minute, something about a TV guy?" 

 

"Ah."  Max ran a hand over his head and shoved both hands in his pockets.  It was an unconscious imitation of Kate but they were so different that even people like McGillop who knew their familial connection didn't actually register the similarity.

 

"Can I help?"  McGillop had already had three people looking for Osgood this morning, and he'd been able to help two of them: he knew he was often overlooked in favour of Osgood, but he didn't mind, even if he was Chief Physicist now.  He more than most knew quite how brilliant the Tower's Senior Scientist, his 'unofficial' lab partner, was. Technically this was McGillop's official lab and Osgood was a squatter, but after three equipment upgrades purely for Osgood's work, McGillop had stopped thinking of the lab as his and enjoyed her friendship, brilliance and extra-powerful lab equipment that she kindly shared in that order.

 

"Umm..."  Max thought about what he'd been going to ask Osgood.  "Thanks, but it's either Greyhound Two or Os that I need rather than a scientist."

 

"Gotcha."  McGillop wasn't overly talented with reading people or learning other languages but he had come to understand how the family members of Kate Stewart behaved when they were trying to respectfully not bring up their personal relationship with her.  "I'd offer to take a message but..." Grinning at Max, he left that question hanging and instead took another bite of his doughnut.

 

"Thanks McGillop."  And with a grateful grin, glad that his friend had understood, Max set off through the corridors of the Tower, unwilling to risk spending any longer in the science departments, just in case.

 

* * *

  
  


"Hey you..."

 

"Huh?"  Startled out of his thoughts, Max looked at the person who'd called out to him.  "Dr Stew..." He was only half way to coming to a suitably respectful 'at attention' stance when he saw her wave of dismissal, or what would have been a wave of dismissal if she wasn't holding two cardboard cups of coffee, one of which she held out for him to take.

 

"Thank you."  If the coffee wasn't a clue that this was a 'Mum' moment, the silent offer to share a biscotti was.  "I'm alright thanks Mum."

 

"If you're looking for relationship advice, I'd ask the one over by the bench myself..." pointed out Kate conversationally when, after a couple of sips of the still too hot to drink coffee, Max still hadn't said anything.

 

"How do you know?"

 

"Know that you're looking for relationship advice or that Toby's your best bet from this bunch?" asked Kate, turning to look at Max properly rather than continue to watch the ravens.

 

"Both?"

 

"Because the three on the perches are the actual corvids and were they to be looking for a mate they would be hoping to impress a female with their in-flight acrobatics and twig selection.  The two on the ground over by the wall are the mechatronic 3.0s currently on field test..."

 

"Are those the ones with the..."  Max trailed off, not sure if he was supposed to confess to his mother that he'd been swept up in the gossip about what the new artificial ravens might have in terms of added functionality.

 

"Eye socket mounted lasers capable of creating a defensive grid?  No..." Kate smirked at his crestfallen expression. "We solved that for the version 2s last year.  It's now standard functionality but I didn’t tell you that." She took a tentative sip of her coffee, relieved it was now at a drinkable temperature.  "But you should enjoy the multi-vector targeting system or whatever they're going to call it." Kate was only marginally less interested in what the 'boys' down at Salisbury Plain were calling the 'toys' than she was in what was trending on Twitter at any given moment, but she did appreciate the technical specification.  "Three work together to lock onto any incoming projectile and are as effective as Trident apparently." They were cheaper too, with a raven having significantly lower running costs than a submarine, even if the range was a bit smaller. "You should pop by Malcolm's lair and help with the calibration."

 

"I wouldn't want to be in the way..."  An invitation into Malcolm's raven tech lab and range was the UNIT equivalent of the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket, with soldier and scientist alike wanting to see inside.

 

"Take a bag of Maltesers."

 

"Maltesers?"  Last Max had heard, Malcolm's workspace was a sugar-free zone as he had been going through a bit of a bad patch with his diabetes.

 

"Raven system equivalent of blank shells."  Realising that his enthusiasm for all things military had side-tracked her from what she'd come over to talk to him about, Kate returned to her tour of the ravens.  "And of the other three, Toby's become quite an expert at human body language and emotion. Gordon and Thomas..." she gestured in the direction of the two not-corvid Ravens that were currently having a small disagreement about something.  "...actually they remind me of you and Gordy when you were small."

 

"How small?"  Max had a feeling that this wasn't actually meant as a compliment given one of them had just decided to try and sit on the head of the other.

 

"Not that small..."

 

"Oh."  

 

"What have you done?"

 

"What? I mean I, that is, no, wait..."  Tied sufficiently in a conversational knot that he didn't know what to say, Max decided to just acknowledge his mother's brilliance and go with it.  "How did you know?"

 

"McGillop told Fran you'd been by looking for Os."

 

"She's working from home."  Max realised seconds after he'd spoken that he'd told Kate something she of course already knew.

 

"Yes."  Rather than say anything else, Kate took a long drink of her coffee.

 

"Wait, what did you do?"  Gaining in confidence when all she did was look at him over the top of her coffee, Max turned to face her, grinning.  "No really, you must have done something because the TV people are only needed if..." He wasn't entirely sure actually what must have happened for the TV to be in need of outside expertise, with much of the technology set-up at their house being not only rather secure but also custom built by Osgood.  There was very little that therefore needed any sort of outside help, and he didn’t think Osgood would appreciate not being self-sufficient..

 

“We’re not talking about me.”  

 

“But…”

 

"And I have to leave to go listen to the Prime Minister pointing out my professional shortcomings in five minutes so it's up to you whether you want to tease me or ask for help."  She was very aware of her shortcomings in terms of her personal life which was why, after her afternoon meeting with the Prime Minister, she was going home with the ingredients to cook one of Osgood’s favourite meals for dinner.  Her briefcase full of reports in need of review was already in the back of the Land Rover.

 

"You..." Max decided that, as much fun as it would be to tease her about whatever might have seen her get in slight 'trouble' with Os, her advice would be rather useful.  "... able to help me work out what not to do for Jess' birthday next week?"

 

"What not to do?"  That hadn't quite been the question she'd been expecting.

 

"Yeah, see..."  And all teasing forgotten, Max quickly began to explain...

 

* * *

 

“...so knowing Max he’s probably going to ask you about necklaces next time he sees you,” concluded Kate, her recounting of her conversation with Max complete.

 

“But I don’t wear necklaces much…” began Osgood, starting to frown.  “...you wear them far more than me…”

 

“This is Max not Gordy,” reminded Kate gently, trying to get two pans to fit the dishwasher sensibly before deciding it was a lost cause.  “So my opinion doesn’t count.” It had taken Kate a little while to understand the differences in the logic applied by each of the boys when it came to wanting ‘girlfriend’ help from her and Osgood but she’d finally got there.

 

“It doesn’t?”  Osgood had been slightly ahead of Kate in terms of working out that the dishwasher was only going to cope with one of the pans and had already unbuttoned her shirt cuffs.  Rolling up her second sleeve, she looked at Kate as she waited for an explanation. “Why not?”

 

“Because…”   Kate put the larger of the two pans in the dishwasher.  “...Gordy, when he wants help about plans with Soph, seeks assurance that she would like it…”

 

“...so asks whoever he thinks is the best fit with whatever he’s thinking about planning,” agreed Os as, sleeves now rolled up, she began to fill the kitchen sink with water so she could wash up the pan.  

 

“But Max wants confirmation that he’s done the right thing.” Kate relinquished the pan to Os.  “Thanks, I’ll dry.”

 

“Which is why…”  Osgood turned off the taps and began to wash up the pan.  “...he’ll ask if it’s the sort of thing we’d do…”

 

“You,” teased Kate, gently nudging her girlfriend’s shoulder in an unspoken request to step slightly to the side so Kate could get the dishwasher tablet out.

 

“Not necessarily…” Osgood kept washing the pan but did get her legs out of the way so Kate could open the cupboard under the sink and get the tablet.  “...but he does know I’ve bought you a necklace for your birthday.” She’d bought Kate more than one over the years, but she wasn’t sure how many of them Max would know had come from her.

 

“That too,” agreed Kate, setting the dishwasher and shutting the door.  “But he’d ask you anyway.” She was under no illusion - when it came to doing things for Jess he asked Osgood’s opinion far more than Kate’s.  “Apparently we’re tricky and he doesn’t want to do anything that creates the wrong impression.”

 

“Blondes?”  Osgood put the now clean pan on the draining board and pulled the sink plug out.  “And what’s the wrong impression?”

 

“Exobiologists.”  Kate had been going to dry the pan but was first going to need the tea towel, which Osgood had just used to dry her hands.  “And I have no idea.”

 

“Ah…” Osgood passed Kate the tea towel so she could dry the pan.  “...how exactly am I the right person to help him then?” Not that she wouldn’t try to help Max, because she would, if he asked, but it would be nice to have some idea as to why she might be able to be helpful….

 

“Because you swept…” declared Kate, finishing off the drying with a small flourish and putting the pan and tea towel on the side, her hands finding their way to Os’s hips.  “...with a cheese sandwich and every other time since…” Kate dipped her head so she could kiss Os’ jaw, feeling the smile on her girlfriend’s face from how the muscles moved under her lips.  “...and I love you.”

 

“And I love you too…” agreed Os quietly, her own hands slipping around Kate’s waist until they were resting in the dip of her lower back, already starting to trace shapes and swirls with her fingertips.  “...even if the clematis had overgrown the feedhorn…” she teased gently, her first comment about her reason for a day working from home.

 

“Did they fix it?”  Kate had been on the phone when Jenkins dropped her off after the PM’s chat, so she’d not paid sufficient attention to the clematis by the front door on her way into the house.

 

“They installed a new one higher up near the gable.”  Osgood could have told them that a clematis’ twining petioles don't easily unwind from the feedhorn and anyway, had also compromised the parabolic reflector surface.  She’d told Kate more than once over the weekend, although Kate had needed Google's help in checking what those bits were called as she'd been somewhat distracted when Os had been telling her because there had been pacing and hand waving to go with the huffing and Kate really wasn't very good at concentrating on the science when Os was that huffy.

 

"Where’s the old aerial?”  asked Kate in between careful exploration of Os’ jaw with soft kisses.

 

“Still there…”  Osgood blinked, making herself concentrate on finishing explaining about the TV repair before she became too distracted by Kate.  “...I like the clematis…”

 

“Thank you.”  Kate pulled away from Os just enough to be able to look her in the eye, her hands keeping their bodies close together.

 

“What for?” Osgood wasn’t sure what she was being thanked for as she certainly didn’t in any way blame Kate for their TV signal problem.  Osgood had seen the clematis overgrowing the TV aerial and not done anything just as often as Kate had.

 

“For putting up with the TV people, and for putting up with me…”

 

“Daft fool…” Os squeezed Kate’s waist, reiterating her willingness to be with Kate, not feeling the need to explain once again why she didn’t consider Kate as someone to ‘put up with’.  “...and the TV now works again.”

 

“That’s good…” Kate was finding it harder to care about the state of the TV again as Os’ fingers had once again managed to get Kate’s shirt to untuck itself while Kate was still struggling to work Osgood’s shirt even a tiny bit loose.  “...want to not watch TV with me?”

 

There were some questions Osgood couldn't always answer and some she could answer but didn't always believe she was the right person to ask. 

But this question? 

She didn't need any analysis, didn't have any doubts or questions of her own about why she'd been asked.

This question was easily answered....with a kiss and one condition.

"Only one?" teased Kate, following Os out of the kitchen, turning the lights off as she went.

"We don't turn the TV on..."


End file.
